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Eye on Community 03.26.2010

"I just got a notification that the server is shutting down in 60 seconds. Can't you let us know about it earlier when you do maintenance?"

Whenever we plan maintenance, our goal is to tell the players about it at least a day in advance. Sometimes, however, urgent maintenance is needed, and it's only possible to give a couple of hours' notice (or less). We try hard to avoid giving players these shorter notification windows. Occasionally, a server has to be shut down and restarted immediately. This is when you encounter the infamous 60 seconds notification message in the game.

Game servers are built out of multiple devices all working together to create the game world and its inhabitants. If one device does not work properly, the rest of the units may be brought down automatically to protect the game world, and an automated 60 seconds notification is then broadcast to allow you to find a safe spot before the server shuts down. So this notification, though abrupt, is a feature provided to give players at least enough time to finish their last combat/crafting, and log out in a safe spot rather than experiencing a sudden crash without warning.

We work hard to make the game servers as stable as possible, but sometimes crashes happen despite our steadfast efforts. Each crash is investigated and followed up with measures to avoid having the same problem occur again in the future.

Picture Tale 1: Elyos of Gorgos + 2: Chewbacca did not understand + 3: We go Dungeon! A comical view of life on Gorgos by Lianna of OnibawaN. The most recent strip is "We go Dungeon!," What's depict is doubtlessly something that's happened to some of us, if not most of us, in our gaming life.

Machinima from Nill (Kalil): Black Flame + Blow Me Away + Swan Lake Quite a few Aion music videos popped up this week. These are all by the same player, Nill on EU Kalil. We bumped into these after viewing what we have fondly started to call "Aionatar" in the office (which is viewable below). It seems that most of the machinima community hails from Kalil! Check out Nill's YouTube page, EpicCookies, for other music videos.

"Aionatar" Aion MachinimaDarkai (Kalil) This video has been emailed about the offices this week, so we thought we'd give it a mention here. If you're brave enough to come up with your own Aion machinima, send us a mail at the below community address.

ZAM.com's Create-A-Headline Contest ZAM has launched a magazine to promote the new official Aion magazine, and they're asking you to submit a creative headline by Monday, March 29, for a chance at one of five 12-month subscriptions to the official Aion magazine, including the preorder benefits.

IGN's AionTower is also giving away five 12-month subscriptions to the official Aion magazine, including the preorder benefits. Entering is easy. Head on over to the contest page at AionTower for more information.

Remember to follow the Community Team on Twitter and Facebook to stay on top of the Aion news!

The Eye on Community article series is a way for us to highlight current, interesting, wacky, passionate, intriguing, dramatic, or just plain awesome things going on in the community. Please send your submissions to community_aion_en@ncsoft.com.